Tuesday, 14 May 2013

In defence of The Historical Association

This letter was published in The Times today:

As historians from the Higher Education sector, we deplore
Michael Gove’s extraordinary and misleading attack on the Historical
Association in his recent speech at Brighton College. Mr. Gove suggested that
the HA favours a dumbed-down or infantilised version of history teaching in
schools. Citing a single sentence in an article by an experienced teacher in
the Association’s journal Primary History,
he claims that ‘the Historical Association
suggest students learn about the early Middle Ages by studying the depiction of
King John as a cowardly lion in Disney’s “Robin Hood”.’ In fact, the journal
piece is a very thoughtful one which explains how students can be helped to
realise that they should not take film depictions of history at face value. Mr.
Gove at any rate ignores the important statement that ‘Publication of a
contribution in Primary History does not necessarily imply the Historical
Association’s approval of the opinions expressed in it.’

Mr. Gove would have us believe that the HA is an
ideologically motivated organisation dedicated to the erosion of academic
standards. In fact, its 6000 plus members have widely divergent political views
but are united by their love of history and their devotion to bringing high
quality scholarship to schools and the wider public.The key skill that the study of history teaches is the ability to
evaluate evidence. Regrettably, what Mr. Gove has demonstrated in his speech is
a remarkable capacity for manipulating and distorting it.

Dr Sophie T. Ambler, King's College London

Dr Sara Barker, University of Exeter

Professor Jonathan Barry, University of Exeter

Professor Eugenio F. Biagini, University of Cambridge

Dr Adrian Bingham, University of Sheffield

Dr Helen Birkett, University of Exeter

Professor Lawrence Black, University of York

Dr Elizabeth Boyle, University of Cambridge

Professor Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary
History, University College London

Dr John-Henry Clay, Durham University

Dr Timothy Cooper, University of Exeter

Dr Pat Cullum, , University of Huddersfield

Professor Martin Daunton, University of Cambridge

Dr Simon Ditchfield, University of York,

Kenneth F. Duggan, Doctoral Student, King's College London

Dr Ann-Marie Einhaus, Northumbria University

Dr Steven Gunn, Merton College, Oxford

Professor Sarah Hamilton, University of Exeter

Dr Freyja Cox Jensen, University of Exeter

Dr
Helen Foxhall Forbes, University of Exeter

Dr
Felicity Heal, Emeritus Fellow, Jesus College, Oxford.

Professor David Hendy, University of Sussex.

Dr Clive Holmes, Emeritus Fellow and Lecturer in
History at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford

Dr Matt Houlbrook, Magdalen College, Oxford

Dr Bronach Kane, Bath Spa University

Professor Evan Mawdsley, Senior Professorial Research
Fellow, University of Glasgow

1 comment:

This is a timely and powerfully worded judgement from a large group of historians on the dishonest attempts of a government minister to denigrate history teaching. Both Gove’s methods and his aim - preparing public opinion for the politicisation of the history curriculum – pose a threat to democratic values, as will his curriculum itself if it comes into force. By replacing a critical approach with the rote learning of a dry nationalist narrative, his curriculum will alienate the majority of young people and certainly the free thinkers among them who will give up history and jeopardise its future at tertiary level. 2,409 people have signed the parliamentary e-petition Keep the History Curriculum Politically Neutral which can be found here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46338

"[E]xhaustive and scholarly [...] Toye has deployed an astonishingly wide range of sources [...] His book is a mine of fascinating material which will be unfamiliar even to readers who think they know their Lloyd George and Churchill pretty well. "
- John Campbell, The Sunday Telegraph, 15 April 2007

"Toye has written a fine and nuanced study of a volatile relationship."
- A.W. Purdue, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 18 May 2007